Orange has launched the first competition in recent Romanian design history that encourages both technology and product design. The competition is called Smart Design Challenge and is initiated by Orange Romania in partnership with the platform Dizainăr.
Smart Design Challenge challenges young designers to design an object or a design installation, both decorative and functional, inspired by Orange products and services in the categories: Orange Home (internet, television, fixed telephony, smart home) or phones, accessories, gadgets and wearables.
Orange will award the best design project with a prize worth 5000 euros. There will also be popularity prizes, each a Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 tablet, in each of the 14 Orange smart shops where the projects will be displayed.
The Smart Design Challenge competition is national, and the finalist projects will be exhibited in Orange smart shops in: Bucharest Băneasa and Europe House, Arad, Constanța, Galați, Oradea, Timișoara, Iași, Bacău, Cluj-Napoca, Târgu Mureș, Sibiu, Brașov, Pitești.
The projects entered in the Smart Design Challenge competition will be judged by:
Irina Alexandru Channel Consumer Marketing for New Markets, Fitbit
Ștefan Barutcieff Creative Director, Pilotfish München
Mirela Bosoi Head of Brand and Communication, Orange România
Liudmila Climoc C EO Orange România
Corvin Cristian Architect and designer
Mihnea Ghilduș Product Designer, founder Dizainăr
The jury will select the winner of the grand prize of 5000 euros and the 42 finalist projects that will be exhibited in 14 Orange smart shops across the country. The public will be able to choose their favorite projects by voting for them between August 1st and September 22nd, 2017, on the platform www.orange.ro/techabreak as well as in the 14 participating stores.
The judging criteria are: aesthetics, functionality, originality, fitting within the given dimensions and ergonomic criteria, use of materials, technology. Each criterion has a scale from 1 to 5 which will be evaluated by each jury member.
“Through this competition, we aim to showcase the products created by the participants to the public interested in technology and Romanian producers active in the technological field who need the services of designers. By displaying the 42 prototypes in Orange smart shop stores across the country, we will ensure an ideal space for interaction between designers and design/technology consumers.
